2026 EMSL-JGI Joint User Meeting: Empowering Automated Laboratories—Integrating Experimentation with Data

March 3 - 5, 2026

TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2026

8 a.m. - Badge pick up and breakfast

• Grand Ballroom - Pre-function area

8:50 a.m. - Welcome kick off and safety briefing

• Nigel Mouncey, JGI Director
• Alex Beliaev, EMSL

SESSION 1 - Decoding the Structure-Function Secrets of Environmental Microbiomes

9 a.m. - Plenary talk - "Title TBD"

• Kelly Wrighton, Colorado State University

9:45 a.m. - Selected short talk - ST1.1

10 a.m. - Break - Discussions continue

10:30 a.m. - Selected talk - T1.1

11 a.m. - Selected talk - T1.2

11:30 a.m. - Selected short talk - ST1.2

11:45 a.m. - Selected short talk - ST1.3

Noon - Working lunch

Session 2 - Genomic Ingenuity: Crafting the Future of Biodesign

1:30 p.m. - Plenary talk - "Implementing Automation and High-throughput CRISPR-based Methods to Onboard and Engineer Performance-advantaged Microbes"

• Carrie Eckert, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

2:15 p.m. - Selected short talk - ST2.1

2:30 p.m. - Break - Discussions continue

3 p.m. - Selected talk - T2.1

3:30 p.m. - Selected talk - T2.2

4 p.m. - Selected short talk - ST2.2

4:15 p.m. - Selected short talk - ST2.3

4:30 p.m. - Break - Discussions continue

4:45 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. - Keynote - "Synthetic Biology: Making Biology Programmable"

• Jim Collins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

5:45 p.m. - 8 p.m. - Poster session and reception

• Salons A, B, C

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2026

8 a.m. - Badge pick up and breakfast

• Grand Ballroom - Pre-function area

SESSION 3 - AI in Action: Automating Experiments for Genomic Exploration

9 a.m. - Plenary talk - "Title TBD"

• Paul Jensen, University of Michigan

9:45 a.m. - Selected short talk - ST3.1

10 a.m. - Break - Discussions continue

10:30 a.m. - Selected talk - T3.1

11 a.m. - Selected talk - T3.2

11:30 a.m. - Selected short talk - ST3.2

11:45 a.m. - Selected short talk - ST3.3

Noon - Working lunch

Session 4 - Integrating Data and Modeling for Systemic Insights

1:30 p.m. - Plenary talk - "Title TBD"

• Hector Garcia Martin, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

2:15 p.m. - Selected short talk - ST4.1

2:30 p.m. - Break - Discussions continue

3 p.m. - Selected talk - T4.1

3:30 p.m. - Selected talk - T4.2

4 p.m. - Selected short talk - TST4.2

4:15 p.m. - Selected short talk - ST4.3

4:30 p.m. - Break - Discussions continue

4:45 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. - Keynote - "Title TBD"

• Kristala Prather, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

5:45 p.m. - 8 p.m. - Poster session and reception

• Salons A, B, C

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2026 | Workshops

8 a.m. - Badge pick up and breakfast

• Grand ballroom - Pre-function area

9 a.m. - Noon - Workshop 1: Single Cell Biology

• Co-leads: Rex Malstrom, JGI; Mary Lipton, EMSL
• Grand ballroom - Salon D
   
• Description:
  Rapid technological advances in droplet microfluidics, imaging, and low-input molecular biology has dramatically increased the throughput and depth at which we can understand behaviors of thousands of individual cells in a complex population. In this workshop we will discuss recent the power and limitations of single-cell and spatial biology, and recent advances in their development at the JGI and EMSL.

9 a.m. - Noon - Workshop 2: Data Integration and Modeling

• Co-leads: Simon Roux, JGI; Kelly Stratton, EMSL
• Salons E, F, G
   
• Description:
  Data integration is key to characterize complex biological systems, yet properly integrating multi'omics data remains challenging due to differences in data representation model, siloed data streams, and current practices limiting data sharing and re-use. This workshop will focus on resources available across JGI/EMSL and with partners NMDC/KBase/ESS-DIVE for biological data integration, lesson learned from recent efforts aiming at enabling large-scale biological data analysis, and upcoming developments in this area.

1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. - Workshop 3: Lab-scale Systems for the Study of Microbiomes

• Co-leads: Trent Northen, JGI; Arunima Bhattacharjee, EMSL
• Grand ballroom - Salon D
   
• Description:
  Laboratory fabricated ecosystems provide a powerful approach for establishing causal mechanisms within microbial communities. This session will describe the latest technologies for constructing and using laboratory habitats to study natural and synthetic microbial communities. 

1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. - Workshop 4: Autonomous Experimentation Toward Reproducible High-throughput Data Acquisition

• Co-leads: Ian Blaby, JGI; Todd Edwards, EMSL
• Salons E, F, G
   
• Description:
  Autonomous experimentation covers a wide range of possibilities. This session will cover existing tools as well as tools being developed at JGI and EMSL. We'll also discuss where autonomy makes sense, the data types and throughput with which data can be attained,  and how to prepare to take advantage of capabilities both preexisting and in development.